DSX module with removable jack

ABSTRACT

A switching coax jack module and jack component provide for a removable DSX jack which can be slid into and out of the front of a jack module housing without disconnecting other internal jacks and without disconnecting the module from a chassis.

I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention pertains to switching jacks for thetelecommunication and data and video transmission industries. Moreparticularly, this invention pertains to a module containing removableswitching jacks.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] In the telecommunications industry, modules having switchingjacks for performing inter-connect and cross-connect functions are wellknown. An example of such is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,104 to Willamset al dated Mar. 21, 1989. With reference to FIG. 5 of the '104 Patent,jacks 144 are mounted in the interior of a housing and permanentlyconnected to cables 82,84,86,88 which extend rearwardly from the jacksto connectors 74,76,78 and 80 on a rear panel of the module housing.

[0005] The jacks used in inter-connect and cross-connect modules arewell known switching jacks. In addition to those shown in U.S. Pat. No.4,815,104, switching coax jacks are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,968to Burroughs dated June 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,491 to Louwagie et aldated Sep. 20, 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,378 to the Seiceanu datedSep. 21, 1993. Both of the '491 and '378 patents teach jack moduleswhich include not only switching components but monitor ports forpermitting monitoring functions without signal interruption.

[0006] From time to time, switching jacks may fail. While this is a lowprobability event, it requires replacement of the switching jack. Indesigns such as that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,104, the entire jack modulemust be replaced in the event of the failure of any one of the twoswitching jacks.

[0007] It is undesirable to have to remove the entire jack module in theevent of the failure of one of the two switching jacks within the jackmodule. Further, as telecommunications facilities are being developed,it is desirable to pre-cable and install modules without the need forhaving switching jacks present during the cabling. For example, withreference to U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,104, the module is installed in acabinet and telecommunications equipment is secured to the module bycoax cables coupled to the connectors on the rear panel of the module.The forward ports on the module permit access to the circuit as desired.However, normal operation proceeds without any access occurring.

[0008] When being developed, telecommunications equipment facilitiesfind economies in the ability to cable-up modules during the developmentof the facilities prior to the modules actually being needed for use.However, this is a very expensive procedure since the switching jackmodules are idle for a substantial period of time. If the jacks wereseparate from the module, the modules could be pre-installed withoutjacks during the facilities development phase and jacks could be addedto the modules as the circuit requirements of the facility grew.

[0009] It is an object of the present invention to provide DSX moduleswith removable switching jacks.

[0010] II. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, aswitching coax jack module is disclosed which includes a housing unithaving walls defining an interior. Interior walls define first andsecond recesses disposed along the front end of the module. Coax cableconnectors are secured to an end wall of the housing and sliding coaxconnectors are mounted on the interior walls in communication with therecesses. Coax cables connect the sliding coax connectors with the coaxcable connectors on the end walls. Each of the sliding coax connectorsis adapted to slidably receive an individual one of a mating connector.Jack devises are provided each having a jack body sized to be receivedwithin the recesses. Mating connectors are provided on rear walls of thejack bodies and positioned to slidably mate with the sliding coaxconnectors as the jack body is inserted into the recess.

III. A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a module according to thepresent invention for use in an interconnect application;

[0013]FIG. 2 is front elevation of the module in FIG. 1;

[0014]FIG. 3 is a rear elevation view of the module of FIG. 1;

[0015]FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of a housing for use in the moduleof FIG. 1 and showing a sliding coax connector at-ached to a coax cable;

[0016]FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the sliding coax connector andattached cable of FIG. 4;

[0017]FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of an internal wall structure ofthe housing of FIG. 4;

[0018]FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of the wall structure of FIG.6;

[0019]FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the wall structure of FIG. 6;

[0020]FIG. 9 is a view taken along a line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

[0021]FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of the wall structure of FIG. 6;

[0022]FIG. 11 is a rear perspective view of the housing shown in FIG. 4;

[0023]FIG. 12 is a side elevation view of the housing of FIG. 11;

[0024]FIG. 13 is a rear elevation view of housing of FIG. 11;

[0025]FIG. 14 is a rear perspective view of a jack device (less frontpanel) for use in the module of FIG. 1;

[0026]FIG. 15 is a side elevation view of the jack device of FIG. 14with a cover member removed to expose internal components;

[0027]FIG. 16 is an electrical schematic of the jack device of FIG. 14;

[0028]FIG. 17 is a front elevation view of the jack device of FIG. 14;

[0029]FIG. 18 is a partial sectional side elevation view of the jackdevice of FIG. 14;

[0030]FIG. 19 is rear elevation view of the jack device of FIG. 14;

[0031]FIG. 20 is a front perspective view of a front panel for the jackdevice of FIG. 14; and

[0032]FIG. 21 is a rear perspective view of the front panel of FIG. 20;

IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0033] Referring now to the several drawing figures in which identicalelements are numbered identically throughout, a description of apreferred embodiment of the present invention will now be provided.

[0034] With initial reference to FIGS. 1-3, a jack module 10 is shownincluding a housing unit 12 and two jack devices (or, more simply,jacks) 14,14′. As will be more fully described, the jacks 14,14′, areindividually removable from the housing unit 12. The housing has a frontend 22, a rear end 24, a side wall 26 and top and bottom walls 28, 30.The walls 28,30,24,22, and side wall 26 define a housing interior 29.

[0035] In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, the jack module 10 is aninterconnect module for interconnect applications. As such it does notinclude tracer lamps and pin jacks commonly found in modules forcross-connect applications. It will be appreciated that the presentinvention can be utilized for both inter-connect and cross-connectapplications as well as other uses.

[0036] The housing unit 12 includes a sheet metal housing 16 (mostclearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 11-13), together with an internal wallstructure 20 (separately shown in FIGS. 610).

[0037] A longitudinal axis X-X (FIG. 1 only) extends from the front wall22 to the rear wall 24 with the top and bottom walls 28,30 beingparallel to the longitudinal axis X-X. Best shown in FIG. 2, the frontend 22 extends in a first transverse dimension Y-Y perpendicular to axisX-X and has a transverse width Z throughout the length of axis Y-Y. Theinterior wall structure 20 is positioned within the interior 29 andcontained within the width dimension Z.

[0038] The top and bottom walls 28,30 include rails 32 to be receivedwithin aligned grooves (not shown) of a chassis (not shown) into whichthe housing 12 may be inserted in side-by-side relation to similarlyconstructed modules contained within the same chassis. The front wallhas mounting tabs 23 for attachment to a chassis. Mounting blocks 25having mounting screws 27 passing through tabs 23.

[0039] The housing contains the interior wall structure 20 which definestwo recesses 34,34′ (FIG. 4) which are linearly aligned along the axisY-Y and open to the front end 22.

[0040] The interior wall structure 20 is best shown in FIGS. 6-10 andincludes parallel spaced apart guide rails 40,41,40′ and 41′ which areparallel to axis X-X and spaced apart to define the recesses 34,34′. Thewalls 40,40′,41, 41′ are joined by an end wall 44. Further, extendingfrom walls 40,40′ are front wall portions 22 a,22 b, which define thefront wall 22 of the housing 12. Each of the rails 40,40′,41,41′ isspaced back from the front wall portions 22 a,22 b to define a recess 42(FIG. 8).

[0041] A support 50 is attached to wall 40 for supporting a tracer lampand pin jack (not shown) as are customarily used in cross-connectapplications to permit tracer lamps and pin jacks to be inserted withinthe structure 50 and accessed through the wall 22 a for cross-connectapplications.

[0042] The side wall 26 of the housing has a cutout 45 (FIGS. 11 and 12)at the forward end. The wall structure 20 is mounted with screwsreceived within bosses 43 and with the rear wall 44 aligned with theedge of the cutout 45.

[0043] Coax connectors 60,61,61′,60′ are secured to the rear wall 24 forattachment to coaxial cables. The connectors 60,61,60′,61′ are wellknown BNC connectors in a preferred embodiment.

[0044] Pairs of identical sliding coax connectors 60 a,61 a,60 a′,61 a′are mounted to the rear wall 44. Connectors 60,60 a; 61,61 a; 60′,60 a′and 61′,61 a′ are joined by coaxial cables 60 b,60 b′,61 b,6 b′completely contained within the interior 29 of the housing as best shownin FIG. 1.

[0045] Each of the mating sliding coax connectors is identical. For easeof illustration, connector 60 a is best shown with reference to FIGS. 4and 5. The connector 60 a includes fingers 62 which are resilient springcontacts disposed in a cylindrical array mounted to a mandrel 64 and ahub 66. The hub 66 can be press fit within holes formed in the rear wall44. A center pin 68 is contained within a dielectric spacer 70 anddisposed within the hub 66 with the center pin 68 centrally positionedsurrounded by the fingers 62.

[0046] A cable 60 b is secured to the sliding connector with a centerconductor 72 of cable 60 b received within the pin 68 and with thegroundshield 74 and jacket 76 of the cable 60 b secured to the mandrel64 by a crimp sleeve 78.

[0047] Best shown in FIG. 10, the rear wall 44 contains three holes81,82,83,81′,82′,83′ for each of the recesses 34,34′. The holes81,82,83,81′,82′,83′ include a center hole 82,82′ having an axisparallel to and centrally positioned between walls 40,41 and 40′,41′.Remaining holes 81,83; 81′,83′ are parallel to and equally spaced fromholes 82,82′ on opposite sides thereof. All of the holes in the rearwall 44 are disposed in a linear array along the dimension of the axisY-Y.

[0048] For reasons that will become apparent, each of walls40,41,40′,41′ is arcuate in cross-section and includes opposing surfacessuch that wall 40 arcs toward and opposes wall 41 and wall 40′ opposesand arcs toward wall 41′. The walls have opposing linear grooves 84(FIG. 9) extending the lengths of the walls.

[0049] Concentric with each of holes 81-83 and 81′-83′, the wall 44 hasbores 81 a-83 a and 81 a′-83 a′ as shown in FIG. 9. The bores 81 a-83 a,81 a′-83 a′ are sized for each to pass a standard BNC connector forpurposes that will become apparent.

[0050] The fingered contacts 62 of the sliding connector 60 a,61 a,60 a′and 61 a′ are sized to be slidably engaged on the interior of a standardBNC connector as the BNC connector is inserted into bores 82 a,83 a,82a′ and 83 a′, respectively, and urged toward the sliding connector.Sliding connectors and mating connectors are shown in operation in FIGS.17 and 18 of commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,673 to Morgenstern etal dated May 25, 1993.

[0051] The jack 14, 14′ are identical and include a jack body 100 and acover plate 102. The jack body 100 is shown separately in FIGS. 14-19.The jack body 100 includes left and right shells 101 which are joined ata part line 103. The jack body has a width approximately equal to thetransverse dimension Z (FIG. 2). The height of the body is equal to thespacing between opposing walls 40,41 and 40′,41′. The upper and loweredges 104,106 of the body are complimentary shaped to the shaping of thewalls 40,41,40′,41′ and include a flange 108 to be received within thegrooves 84 of the walls 40,41,40′,41′.

[0052] A rear end 110 of the body is provided with BNC connectors112,113 which are sized to fit within the bores 81 a-83 a, 81 a′-83 a′.Accordingly the BNC connectors 112,113 are mating sliding connectorssuch that the fingers 62 of the sliding connectors 60 a,61 a,60 a′,61 a′are received within the interior of the BNC connectors 112,113 and urgeagainst the interior cylindrical wall of the BNC connectors 112,113.Best shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, each of the BNC connectors 112,113includes an internal center pin 112 a,113 a which is hollow to receivethe solid center pin 68 of the sliding connectors 60 a,61 a,60 a′,61 a′when the BNC connector is slidably coupled with the sliding connector.

[0053] The forward wall 111 of the jack body 100 includes three ports121,122,123 including two ports 122,123 aligned with each of the BNCconnectors 112,113. Each of the ports 121-123 expose an interior centerconductor 121 a-123. An OUT center conductor 122 a extends through thecenter port 122 and is electrically connected to the center pin 112 athe rear BNC connector 112. An IN center conductor 123 a extends fromthe lower port 123 and the center conductor 113 a of the lower BNCconnector 113. A switching circuit 125 is provided between the twocenter conductors 122 a,123 a such that insertion of a plug into eitherof the ports 122,123 terminates a normal electrical connection betweenthe BNC connector locations 112,113 and isolates the opposite centerconductor to ground.

[0054] The third port 121 includes a center conductor 121 a connectedacross to resistance 126 to the OUT conductor 122 a. Insertion of a pluginto the third port 121 permits monitoring of a signal on the OUT centerconductor 122 a without interrupting flow of a signal from the middleBNC connector 112 to the lower BNC connector 113.

[0055] The jack 100 is electrically conductive to provide a groundshieldfor internal circuit components. It will be appreciated that jacks withsuch internal circuitry are well known in the art and examples of suchare shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,491.

[0056] The forward end 111 of the jack includes flats 130 disposed onboth sides of the jack 100 between the ports 121-123. The flats 130 havethreaded bores 130 a for receiving screws 132 (FIG. 1).

[0057] The dielectric cover 102 is shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 and includesthree holes 121 b,122 b,123 b to be aligned with the ports 121-123 suchthat the cover 102 can be slid over the ports 121-123 onto the front end111 of the jack 100. Holes 130 b on the sides of the covers 102 permitthe passage of the threaded screw 132 through the front plate 102 andinto the holes 130 a on the sides of the jack 100 to securely fasten thefront cover 102 to the front 111 of the jack 100.

[0058] The front cover 102 is provided with flanges including and upperflange 150 sized to be received within the recess 42. A hole 151 ispassed through the flange 150 and aligned with a threaded insert152,152′ (FIG. 4) in the recess 42. As a result, a screw 154 (FIG. 2)can be removably replaced into the holes 151,152 to removably secure thejack 14 to the module 10.

[0059] A second flange 160 protrudes along an opposite side of the frontplate 102. The flanges 150,160 are sized such that when two jacks 14,14′are placed within the recesses as illustrated in FIG. 1, the frontplates 102 are received within the recesses 42 and form a continuousplastic plate along the front edge 22.

[0060] It will be noted that the rear wall 44 of the interior wallstructure 20 includes three holes per recess including a centrallypositioned hole 82,82′ and the remaining holes 81,81′,83,83′ beingsymmetrical about the centrally positioned hole 82,82′. Three holes areutilized to permit modification of the design to include a monitor BNCmating connector off of the rear end 110 of the jack 100 to couple witha monitor sliding connector which could be added into the third hole topermit monitoring capabilities off of the rear end 24 of the module 10.Also, three holes are provided to permit the manufacturer of an end wallsymmetrical about axis X-X.

[0061] The positioning of the holes on the rear wall 44 and theirrelative spacing is selected to be symmetrical about the axis of thecenter hole 82,82′. Further, the rear BNC 112 is selected to bepositioned along the center line between the top and bottom edges104,106 of the jack. As a result, the center BNC 112 connects with thecenter hole 82,82′ sliding connector whenever the jack is rotated 180degrees about it's longitudinal axis. Accordingly, the jack can befitted into either of the upper or lower recesses 34,34′ without theneed for a separate inventory of different jacks for the upper and lowerrecesses. The front plates may be provided with silk screening or otherindicators which may be rotated as desired to provide an indication toan operator of the various functions of the ports.

[0062] With the devise thus described, an individual jack may be removedand replaced without the need for removal of the other jack within themodule or without need for removal of the entire module from aninstallation. Furthermore, a module (without jack), may be pre-cabled inan installation and jacks may be added to modules when desired to bringa circuit on-line. Also, the design permits a single inventory of jackswhich may be symmetrically positioned. Further, the mating geometry ofthe guide walls and edges of the jacks insure accurate alignment of thejacks when they are slid into position to be immediately coupled withthe sliding connectors. The passage of a screw through the upper flangeof each of the front plates permits a jack to be secured to the moduleand prevents undesired disruption of the jack when a plug is inserted orremoved from a jack port.

[0063] When the foregoing detailed description of the present inventionit has been shown how the objects of the invention have been obtained ina preferred manner. Modifications and equivalents of the disclosedconcepts such as those which readily occur to one skilled in the art areintended to be included within the scope of the claims which areappended hereto.

In the claims:
 1. A switching coax jack module comprising: A. a housingunit having a housing having (a) a front end, a rear end, a side walland top and bottom walls cooperating to define a housing interior andwith said housing having a longitudinal axis from said front end to saidrear end and with said housing having a first transverse dimensionextending between said top and bottom walls and a second transversedimension orthogonal to said first transverse dimension and said axis;(b) said housing having interior walls within said interior definingfirst and second recesses linearly aligned along said first transversedimension at said front end; (c) first and second pairs of first andsecond coax cable connectors secured to said end wall for connection tocoax cables external of said housing; first and second pairs of firstand second sliding coax connectors mounted within said interior; (d)first and second pairs of first and second coax conductors disposedwithin said interior and connecting said first and second coax cableconnectors with respective ones of said first and second slidingconnectors of said firs: and second pairs; (e) each of said sliding coaxconnectors adapted to slidably receive an individual one of a matingconnector moving along a path of travel toward mating ends of saidsliding coax connectors; (f) said first and second pairs of said slidingcoax connectors mounted within said first and second recesses,respectively, in a linear array along said first transverse dimensionand with each of said sliding coax connectors mounted with said matingends spaced from said front end by a recessed distance and positioned toslidably receive one of said mating connectors moving in said path oftravel from said front end and parallel to said longitudinal direction;(g) said sliding connectors of each of said first and second pairsspaced apart by a transverse distance; B. First and second jacks eachhaving (a) a jack body sized to be received within said recesses, saidbody having a front wall and a rear wall; (b) first and second ones ofsaid mating connectors on said rear wall and spaced apart by saidtransverse distance for said mating connectors to slidably mate withsaid sliding coax connectors as said jack body is inserted into saidrecess; (c) said jack body including first and second forward ports onsaid front wall for receiving a jack plug; (d) a switching circuitwithin said body for normally electrically connecting said matingconnectors in the absence of a plug in either of said ports and foropening said connection upon insertion of a plug into either of saidports; (e) said walls and said jack bodies having cooperating guides forguiding said jack into said recesses with said jacks moving in the pathof travel and with the mating connectors aligned with the slidingconnectors.
 2. A switching coax jack module according to claim 1 whereinsaid jack includes a monitor port on said front wall and connected tomonitor a signal at one of said mating connectors.
 3. A switching coaxjack module according to claim 1 wherein said cooperating guidesincludes said walls being shaped complementary to edges of said jackbody.
 4. A switching coax jack module according to claim 3 wherein saidedges are symmetrical about one of said mating connectors.
 5. Aswitching coax jack module according to claim 3 wherein said edges arecurved.
 6. A switching coax jack module according to claim 5 whereinsaid edges include centrally extending flanges.
 7. A jack for a jackmodule having a housing with a front end and walls cooperating to definea housing interior and with said housing having a longitudinal axis fromsaid front end to said rear end; said housing having walls within saidinterior defining at least a first recess at said front end; first andsecond sliding coax connectors mounted within said interior; each ofsaid sliding coax connectors adapted to slidably receive an individualone of a mating connector moving along a path of travel toward matingends of said sliding coax connectors; said sliding coax connectorsmounted within said first recess in a linear array and with each of saidsliding coax connectors mounted with said mating ends spaced from saidfront end by a recessed distance and positioned to slidably receive oneof said mating connectors moving in said path of travel from said frontend and parallel to said longitudinal direction; said sliding connectorsof each of said first and second pairs spaced apart by a transversedistance; transversely spaced apart guide walls having arcuatecrosssection and extending from said forward end on opposite sides ofsaid recess; said jack comprising: (a) a jack body sized to be receivedwithin said recess, said body having a front wall and a rear wall; saidjack having top and bottom walls sized to be slidably received withinsaid guides; (b) first and second ones of said mating connectors on saidrear wall and spaced apart by said transverse distance for said matingconnectors to slidably mate with said sliding coax connectors as saidjack body is inserted into said recess; (c) jack body including firstand second forward ports on said front wall for receiving a jack plug;(d) a switching circuit within said body for normally electricallyconnecting said mating connectors in the absence of a plug in either ofsaid ports and for opening said connection upon insertion of a plug intoeither of said ports.
 8. A jack according to claim 7 wherein said topand bottom walls are symmetrical about one of said mating connectors. 9.A jack according to claim 7 wherein said top and bottom walls arecurved.
 10. A jack according to claim 9 wherein said top and bottomwalls include centrally protruding flanges.